GCLC has hosted numerous Harvey Intake sessions at churches in North, Northeast and Southeast Houston/Pasadena to connect agencies with victims of Hurricane Harvey who are still in desperate need of assistance.

“The purpose of these intake sessions is to bring recovery resources to a targeted neighborhood and community,” Elizabeth Valdez, lead organizer with TMO, said. “While many Harvey survivors have become distrustful and disheartened by the recovery process, these sessions have offered a more hopeful approach by meeting survivors in their congregations. Over 300 families visited the sessions and approximately 80 percent did not have a case manager prior to these sessions. For many, this was their first face-to-face interaction with an agency.”

GCLC leaders organized the sessions and conducted neighborhood walks to bring in clients from surrounding neighborhoods. The host congregations included Assumption Catholic Church, St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, New Pleasant Grove Baptist, Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, St. Pius V Catholic Church in Pasadena and St. Leo the Great Catholic Church.

Sherry Dunlap, leader with TMO, said the organization hosts sessions at various churches and brings agencies to the people who are in need of home repairs. “Phones calls are made to seek churches who have people who have not received any assistance or did not receive enough support to get back in their homes,” she said. “Some of the people we meet with have unmet needs, therefore, we connect them with agencies who provide support.”

Dunlap said the organization also works to be advocates for the people they are serving. They have met before city council to seek more disaster case managers, with Mayor Sylvester Turner about disaster relief funding, and with Judge Ed Emmett about the bayous that would be included in the bond.

“Meetings are conducted to check on the progress of people we have connected with the agencies, and to prepare for our sessions with the agencies,” she said. “Phone calls are made and received from Harvey victims daily to check on them and advise them as to their next steps.”

The organization plans to continue hosting sessions, which are coordinated in partnership with the Alliance for Multicultural Services, SBP, Wesley Community Center, Avenue CDC, Fifth Ward CDC, and other LISC Collaborative Members....

The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) stands with the Jewish community in this time of tragedy, death, and fear. We condemn the horrific shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh this weekend and urge a cessation of the heated political rhetoric that is giving rise to anti-Semitism, white supremacy, and violence around the country.

Just over three years ago, 9 members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, also died practicing their faith. It is tragic that many faith communities are beginning to feel that they can only gather safely if they provide for armed deterrence from deadly acts of hate from guns and firearms. Houses of worship should not be places where people fear to assemble.

In the last 10 days, we have also seen a black man and woman killed in the Kentucky Kroger and numerous political and religious figures targeted for harm, including the mailing of explosive packages to numerous public officials. We denounce all these heinous acts and call for a response of justice and civility.

The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) is the nation’s oldest and largest non-partisan network of 75 Broad Based Community Organizations throughout the United States representing hundreds of thousands of families. We intentionally work in local areas to build a sense of greater community valuing diversity, pluralism, and acting together to build local democracy and public life. This week, we are supporting and organizing local gatherings and vigils of solidarity to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

We know that the current polarized climate doesn’t have to be nor should it be normalized. We have demonstrated that people from diverse backgrounds can work together around common agendas that cross racial, ethnic, religious, political, gender and class divides. We are compelled to challenge all of us to stand with Jewish communities throughout the nation in this hour of horror and tragedy.

In this era of hyper-partisanship, we call upon our elected officials, from our nation’s capital to our local leaders, to work across party lines in a way that represents our interests and to stop using language that polarizes and encourages those who would use hate as a tool.

Over the long term, our work of organizing and community building for a common good continues. This requires tolerance and acceptance of disagreements from those with a broad spectrum of political and religious beliefs and traditions, and the acknowledgment that we are all responsible for forming a common public life.

We should never forget the words from the Book of Psalms:

Light shines in the darkness for the upright;the righteous are merciful and full of compassion…For they will never be shakenthe righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance

With support from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) and Bishop Jaime Soto, Common Ground prepared 50 Spanish-speaking parishioners in the Solano Deanery for parish-based leadership. The training was held over two days at St. Patrick-St. Vincent Catholic High School.

In advance of the Fifth National Encounter of Hispanic / Latino Ministry, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development celebrated the work of Ana Chavarin, a leader with her church, St. John the Evangelist, and Pima County Interfaith.

In the book of Amos, "we are reminded about the call to work for justice in this world. The EPISO-Border Interfaith Leadership Academy on June 15-16 at Christ the Savior Catholic Church in northeast El Paso provided a listening and learning opportunity to heed the call. At the Leadership Academy, senior Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) community organizers Sr. Maribeth Larkin and Joe Rubio offered participatory training on broad-based community organizing...."

COPS/Metro leaders from St. Leonard Catholic Church organized a "Human and Spiritual Development" Assembly in which seventy-five (75) parishioners attended and participated in small group conversations about the role of the church in their lives.

St. Leonard's joined COPS/Metro after several leaders participated in CCHD-sponsored Spanish Leadership Training. Leaders who participated in that training organized this assembly.

On Pentecost, St. Mary’s by-the-Sea and La Iglesia de San Pablo Apostol Episcopal Churches sponsored a 'Gathering of Immigrants' which drew 100 parishioners from the two congregations, as well as guests from All Saints Episcopal Church in Carmel. Participants met over lunch to share a piece of their families’ immigration story and to listen to each other. St. Mary’s in Pacific Grove is home to many English-speaking retirees, while San Pablo’s in Seaside is made up of first-generation Spanish-speaking immigrants. The event was co-chaired by Father Martin Juarez, from San Pablo’s and Kirsten Matsumoto from St. Mary’s. Click below for full report.

Hosted by Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church and the Austin Interfaith Affordable Housing Team, a civic academy on codeNEXT (a proposed overhaul of the city's zoning code) drew 120 mostly East Austin residents to learn, share housing stories and identify opportunities for concrete action before the City Council votes on it.

Building on a groundbreaking accord between Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) and the Police Departments of Dallas, Carrollton and Farmers Branch -- in which the police agreed to accept parish identification cards as alternative ID -- upwards of 800 parish ID cards have been issued since the campaign was launched four weeks ago. With some parishes requiring active membership from applicants for at least six months before issuing the card, the waiting list of submitted applications has, so far, exceeded 2,000 applicants and is expected to grow.

This joint effort with the Catholic Diocese is bringing immigrants out of the shadows and into fuller participation in congregational life. 700 applicants were newly registered as members of their parish, even after years of regular church attendance. Teams of leaders identified by DAI, and trained (in Spanish) through a collaborative effort with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) and the Interfaith Education Fund, are helping keep the cost of the parish IDs affordable for families.

Without an ID, said one parishioner, "we are scared of what could happen if we are stopped by the police." With parish ID, families are feeling a greater sense of belonging and confidence in dealing with law enforcement.

In training sessions held this month, police departments have committed to training their officers to recognize these cards as alternative identification.